


The Other Master

by Designated_Traitor



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: F/M, Female Reader, Multi, Pre!Fall of Chaldea, Reader has a Surname, Reader-Insert, Reverse Harem, Slow Romance as Reader Builds Bonds, Will Add More Servants as I Go, add more characters as they appear - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2019-11-13 11:03:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18030518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Designated_Traitor/pseuds/Designated_Traitor
Summary: In which plans were altered, and it was decided that Chaldea should run just a bit longer before Humanity ends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ...I initially planned to write about 1k for this chapter, but that clearly went out the window. Been wanting to write some Fate/Reader stuff for a while so here we go!  
> Not Beta'd we die like Shadow Servants

"Welcome, Future Masters of Chaldea!" Olga Marie Animusphere announced to the group.

You felt excitement bubble up within you, finally you made it, all those years of hard work and learning your families Magecraft paid off. You had been accepted into the Chaldea organization, a place where only the Elite Mage families were invited to join. Your family was not such a thing, but that didn't stop you, it was through your skill and hard work (alongside a good reference from your Professor) that got you the invitation.

Looking down at your gold Chaldea uniform, a smile formed on your face. This was the chance to increase your family's status among the Mages Association, but most of all? The pay was good.

So very, very good.

You felt your smile grow a little vicious. Of course, the majority of your earnings would be sent to your family, with the amount of siblings you had it would help ease the monetary burden from your parents, but the rest...

You ignored the confused looks your smiling face gathered as Director Olga started talking about the likelihood of injuries and possibility of death.

"However, I have faith that your skills and family lineage will help you get through these trials, remember you are not only here for yourself, but for Humanity!" Director Olga spoke like a commander would and the crowd of soon-to-be Masters applauded in response.

"Now to talk to you further about our regulations here, I would like to introduce you to Professor Lev Lainur." Director Olga stepped aside as a man wearing a green jacket and hat approached the podium and started going over what was to be expected for the Masters.

As everyone around you straightened their posture, no doubt getting focused on what Professor Lev would tell them, you couldn't stop staring at his face. It felt as if you had seen it before, but not at the same time, maybe you had met someone who looked familiar?

His eyes suddenly met yours during his speech, and you felt yourself shrink back. What a look. They were off you in a second, but you still had to swallow down your nervousness. Finding that you couldn't look back into his eyes, you settled for staring at his hat instead. You decided quite pettily that you hated it.

"You are all allowed one 'free' summon, so to speak, however after that you will have to earn your next summon by collecting these." From his jacket he pulls out a spiky looking crystal. "We refer to these as Saint Quartz and they are given as a reward from completing your set assignments, you will need to collect 30 before you will be allowed to summon another Servant." He tucked the Saint Quartz back into his jacket.

That seemed fair, you thought, this way only those who worked hard would be able to summon more Servants.

"There is also one absolute rule you must follow." The room descended into quiet as Professor Lev regarded the soon-to-be Masters with a serious expression. "You are only allowed to meet and communicate with your Servants at the Rayshift locations, and aside from the initial summoning, interacting with your Servants in Chaldea is strictly forbidden." Whispers broke out around you, and even you couldn't stop your look of surprise. "Anyone caught doing so will be severely punished." The corner of his mouth twitched up revealing a sharp canine.

You gulped at the clear threat. Even the recruits around you felt it as they all quieted down.

Professor Lev brought his hands together, his expression going back to being soft. "Now I hope you all work hard to better Humanity." And with that he left the podium.

Before the silence could turn stifling, Director Olga spoke. "Now for the summoning process, we will ask you to wait in your designated rooms until called. Please remember that other than some Staff members, only you with know of your Servants name and class, whether you wish to tell others and give them an upper hand on you will be your own prerogative." Director Olga stepped back and headed off the stage, signalling the end of the orientation.

You held back from scoffing. The Directors intentions were clear, she wanted to increase the rivalry between the Masters. Why though? You weren't too sure, perhaps she wanted to weed out the weaker or less able ones.

Those thoughts aside, you couldn't help but grin at the thought of your first summoning, you walked with a bounce in your step as you followed a Staff member to your room.

\---  
\--  
-  
\--  
\---

A knock on your door had your heart rate jumping. All but lunging for the door you gave yourself a second to look composed, even if you were shouting with joy on the inside.

The door opened to reveal a Staff member. He gave you a warm smile and wave. “Nice to meet you, my name is Romani Archaman, I’m the Head of the Medical Facility here in Chaldea. Feel free to call me Dr Roman.” He ended his introduction with another smile, and you couldn’t help but give one in return.

After introducing yourself, you both started heading down the hallway. Your body was thrumming with such excitement that you often found yourself walking ahead of the Doctor. Taking a breath, you forced yourself to slow down and match his pace. There was no need to rush.

The Doctor chuckled at your behaviour before looking down at his clipboard. “Is it alright if I ask you some Medical questions?”

You rose an eyebrow. You had already filled out many medical forms when you first sent your application off, what more could they want to know?

Seeing your expression, Dr Roman sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Ah, this isn’t like the usual Medical forms, it was specifically made for Mages in Chaldea.”

Well, that definitely got you curious. "Sure thing Doctor, ask away."

Dr Roman nodded. "Okay here goes..."

The questions were… strange, you had to say, ranging from: “How old were you when you first accessed your Mana circuits?” to “How many Grimoires have you read and/or mastered?”

By the end of it you were eyeing Dr Roman suspiciously. To ask a Mage, of any rank, such personal questions about their Mana and abilities went beyond the usual etiquette Mages were given. Why did Chaldea need such in-depth knowledge of their Masters?

Sensing your mood, Dr Roman looked up from his writing and met your serious gaze. “D-Director Olga and Professor Lev both agreed that they needed more information on their Masters abilities, t-to better… their…”

The poor Doctor looked close to panicking, but you didn't relent your gaze.

"...I may have stopped listening during their explanation."

The blunt admission almost had you tripping over your feet.

You gaped at Dr Roman with an incredulous expression. This was the Head of the Medical Facility?

He deflated under your look. “Ugh, that look, you just questioned why I was the Head of the Medical Facility right?”

You nodded, ignoring the pout he sent your way. He’s a grown man he’d survive.

Dr Roman stopped in front of a door and sighed. “Well regardless of what you think of me, if you have any problems please do come to my office, okay?” He sent you a gentle smile and you felt your irritation dwindle in response.

“Yeah, sure.” You ignored the slight guilt you felt at criticising him.

The door you stopped in front of opened revealing another Staff member. She asked for your full name and you responded. “Miss Airnsong, please follow me for your summoning.” With that she turned and walked further into the room.

Stepping in behind her, Dr Roman whispered you a quick ‘good luck’ before the door closed in his face. Hurrying along to catch up, you looked wide-eyed around the gigantic room. There was a circled platform in the middle of the room but other than that it was empty, there were windows along one of the walls that looked into another room, one filled with computers and other Staff members. You noticed Director Olga and Professor Lev among them.

The female staff member stopped abruptly, almost causing you to crash into her. “Please step onto the platform.”

You looked at her in question, but she offered no other explanation. Stepping onto the platform you walked to the middle and looked to the staff member only to find her by the exit.

“Director Olga will now issue your next set of instructions.” And with that she turned and left the room.

It was just you now, in this gigantic room. You couldn’t help but fidget as you watched the Chaldean Staff members through the window, typing away on computers. What information were they collecting? Nothing had even happened yet.

Director Olga’s voice brought you out of your thoughts.

“Miss Airnsong, if you would direct your attention to the centre of the platform.” You do, and watch slowly as a white crystal is brought up from the ground on a stand. You notice that inside it was a Saint Quartz.

“Now when we give you the go-ahead, you will start pouring your Mana into the Crystal, as you do rings will start appearing around you, once you see three rings you may cut off your Mana and there in front of you will be your Servant.”

You grinned. This was it. You couldn’t wait to see who answered your call. Lancer, Saber, Archer… What class would you get? You felt the adrenaline run through your body and had to physically stop yourself from cackling in glee.

"You may begin Miss Airnsong."

You rubbed your hands together and felt the Mana circuits in your hand respond. Bringing your hands around to cradle the crystal, you slowly started streaming your Mana in.

The effect was instantaneous. The Saint Quartz inside the Crystal started rising, then shaking, and as you poured more Mana in, it spun.

You regulated your breathing as more Mana was pulled from you. It had been a long time since you had to actively stream Mana like this, but as a ring started forming around the platform you pushed yourself further.

A solid ring formed, then another, and then finally the third. All seemed to be swirling around you as you abruptly stopped your Mana stream. The rings grew thicker and you couldn’t help but stare in wonder as they merged into a wall of white around you. It further grew in intensity, and for a moment you felt suffocated, before everything seemed to snap.

Your eyes were closed, when did you close them? You weren't sure, your body also felt stiff and you felt fatigue crawl into your mind.

Then a voice was heard.

"Alas, the demon! The Demon!"

The voice seemed very... dramatic. You almost didn't want to open your eyes, but you did, and was awarded with a face inches away form your own.

You blinked and as if you were on a one second delay, finally reeled back from the face.

“The demon has come!” He (you thought, at least) continued dramatically, seemingly uncaring that you had backed away.

He grinned, a rather crazed look, you thought to yourself. “It’s Mephistopheles! That worst of all demons!”

Your mouth dropped open, but no sound came out after his declaration. A… A demon?! How the hell- you thought the Throne of Heroes only worked with, well, Heroes!

“Oya, oya, are you my Master?” The demon called Mephistopheles tilted his head, looking you over as he waited for your answer.

“Yessss.” You didn’t mean to draw it out, but in your defence your brain was still catching up with these events.

Mephistopheles seemed to just, twitter around you, going from one side of you to the other, he seemed incapable of remaining still.

Well to be fair, you hadn’t stopped staring at him. Skin so white it looked like paper, a short feathered cloak around his shoulders, his hair, and that hat! Were those real horns? Or just a part of the hat? God what was with his clothes-

You couldn't help your movements, you poked him once in the chest. He stopped moving and watched you, amusement lining his features. Bringing your hands up, you tugged at his hair and watched as it bounced back into a curl. He brought his face closer to yours at the movement, and for the first time you actually looked at him. His light purple eyes met yours, mischievousness met curiosity. He was still smiling, laughing even, and you felt a pang of irritation at the idea he was finding you to be a joke.

You brought your hands up and cupped his face, considering he looked about 6ft tall he had to bend slightly forward to accommodate your wish, but he still did, and you took it as a small victory. He wasn’t smiling anymore now, his eyes regarded you with an intensity as your thumbs brushed the long markings on his face. This silence between you was a strange thing, neither of you seemed to want to break it, and it was only when you felt something brush against your calf did you look down and-

“Is that a tail?!” You jumped back in excitement. Walking around Mephistopheles you watched as his tail swished back and forth.

A beat of no response.

“Of course, Master!” Mephistopheles swirled around to face you, he mimicked your pose and while you were pretty sure he was mocking you, he didn’t seem to be doing it with bad intentions. “What sort of demon would I be without a tail!” You noticed his voice tended to change in volume throughout his sentences.

What a dramatic demon you picked up. You smiled at thought, before finally out right laughing as Mephistopheles cocked his head to the side.

Running a hand through your hair as you regained your breath, you stretched out a hand and introduced yourself. “I hope we can get along, Mephistopheles.” You grinned.

Mephistopheles straightened to his full height and looked down at you, gaze piercing into your own eyes, but you held your ground. After a few seconds Mephistopheles grinned, and god it was slightly terrifying you had to admit, before clasping your hand with both of his, shaking it vigorously.

“Oya, such an interesting Master has summoned me! The demon Mephistopheles!”

You internally sweat-dropped. Well at least things wouldn’t get boring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awesome to see you guys liking Mephisto being the first summon, have some more of him.

The giddiness hadn't left you since the summoning. Even when you were asked question after question by the Staff, it didn't stop there either, as they also tested your Mana circuits to see how they had responded. You noted that throughout it all Director Olga and Professor Lev only ever stayed in the back, talking to one another and observing.

Turning another corner, you sped up to the Staff member leading you back to your room. God you felt amazing, it was as if your Mana circuits had transformed into a warm, slow moving stream inside you. All your Mana circuits were in use, and you noted curiously that in some parts of your body the Mana flowed easier than others. Was it in correspondence to how you usually used Magecraft? You would test it out later.

The Staff member stopped in front of your door and turned to face you. "What you are currently feeling are your Mana circuits slowly adjusting their output of power to support your Heroic Spirit. They should settle by tomorrow morning at the latest, however if they start hurting or you notice anything strange, please do head to the Medical wing."

You nodded, and as she stepped aside she gave you one last warning. "Remember, no Servant interactions outside of Rayshifts, there will be consequences if you are found doing so."

"Understood." And then the door slid shut behind you.

You held your breath and put your ear against the door, and sure enough you heard steps heading away from your door. You didn't move until there was absolute silence outside.

Then you allowed your excitement to overtake you, jumping onto your bed. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Your cheeks almost hurt from the size of your grin. You couldn't help doing a little victory dance until you ran out of breath.

Flopping back onto your bed, you lifted your left hand and grinned, looking at your Command Seals. You had no time to properly inspect them since you were bombarded with questions the minute the Staff members entered the room and Mephistopheles vanished. Like the Command Seals you've read about, they were red in colour but unlike the examples you've seen, yours seemed to take up almost the entirety of the back of your hand. It almost seemed to mimic the bones, starting from the middle of your fingers, right at the joints, a thick red line ran to your knuckles, where it stopped only for the five lines to continue to your wrist, where they were stopped by a single red line that ran vertical. One, two, three. Three different parts for your three Command Seals.

"Heeell yes!" You punched the air in front of you and your Mana circuits rippled in response, further edging up your excitement. Between your elated mood and the warm feeling of your circuits, no way would you be able to sleep tonight.

You flung your other hand into the air. "This is gonna be so awesome!"

"Master and I will have so much fun!"

"I know right!" You grinned at Mephistopheles as he high-fived your outstretched hands.

Wait, what. You scrambled off the bed and pointed to Mephistopheles. "Y-you!"

Mephistopheles pointed to himself and tilted his head. "Me, Master?"

"How are you here?!"

He blinked, and then you blinked, and suddenly he was all in your face again. "Oyaaa, has my Master forgotten summoning me already? Aah, how hurtful my Master!"

"What, no, I didn't mean, can- can you stop that?!"

Mephistopheles paused in his floating, giving you a close-lipped smile as he kept himself upside-down.

You gave yourself one second to be amused by his stunt, all he needed was a thread going from the ceiling to him and he would successfully be the weirdest Spiderman imitator ever. You wondered how his hat managed to stay on- no wait, you needed to focus on the more important matter on hand.

Taking a slow breath, you leaned closer to Mephistopheles. "You're not meant to be here, in my room." You whispered. The last thing you needed was someone to hear you from the hallway and come inspect the noise.

"Oh! Why?" The gleam that entered his eyes worried you.

"It's just- just one of the rules of Chaldea, okay?" You sighed, running a hand through your hair. You knew it was a weak argument, but the rule must have been added for a reason right?

Mephistopheles smiling face had disappeared and instead you were given a neutral look. You couldn't decide which of his expression made you more uncomfortable, his ecstatic grins or this one.

"Master, come closer."

You couldn’t help but eye him suspiciously, but nevertheless tilted your ear towards him. Cupping his hands around your ear, you felt a puff of hot breath and fought the urge to move away and rub your ear.

"MASTER THE RULE IS STUPID!"

Your ear rang as you jumped back in alarm, your feet tangling together causing you to fall onto the floor. “What the hell Mephisto!” You shouted, too caught up in your annoyance to remember you needed to be quiet.

The irritating demon was back on the floor, clutching his sides in laughter. “Y-your face, Master-” He broke out into another fit of laughter, going as far as to start slapping the ground.

“You’re such an, an idiot.” You couldn’t help let out a light laugh. What an irritating Servant, you couldn’t even stay mad at him for laughing at you.

His head swivelled to you, surprise colouring his features when you merely gave sent him a lop-sided smile. Ah, it seemed that even he had expected your irritation to last longer.

Crossing your legs properly, you rested your head in your hands. “You are right though.” Mephistopheles blinked and brought himself up, matching your position. You carried on, seeing that he wasn’t going to interrupt you this time. “The rule doesn’t make sense, and the higher-ups didn’t even make an excuse for it. They kind of just said ‘Don’t do this’ and we all agreed.”

Mephistopheles hummed and crossed his arms, his weirdly coloured eyes watching you intensely. “Ooo is my Master someone who follows the orders of others without question? Hmm?”

He was prodding for something, you could tell, a certain answer, and you had a feeling that if you gave one he didn’t like things would not end well. 

You hummed as you leaned back on your hands, straightening your back and working out the stiffness. From the two times you’ve met him, it seems he preferred having fun over taking things seriously. Granted he went about it in a rather… chaotic way, he didn’t seem to favour those who merely did what others said.

You peered at him, and that’s what he currently thought of you. You needed to dispel his assumptions about you, especially if you were gonna work together. “Don’t misunderstand, Mephisto, I have reservations about these rules they’ve set out, but I need to stay here. I can’t get kicked out.”

His head tilted to the side. “Oya, why is that Master?” The intensity in his eyes lessened and you counted that as a victory.

“Money obviously.”

Mephistopheles stared at you, and then snorted out a laugh, he returned to his usual hunched posture and a smile went back on his face. He brought his hand to his mouth, as if you had said something scandalous. “Who knew my Master was really greedy~"

You rolled your eyes as he went back to his dramatic ways. "Whatever, it's fine as long as we don't get caught."

"A good life motto, Master!"

You snorted at his response, before rising and heading to your desk. A yellow folder had been placed there while you were summoning Mephistopheles and it was about time you checked it out.

Flicking it open, you were first greeted by a map of Chaldea, there were the dorms, canteen, summoning room, the medical wing, a training room? You’d have to check that out, and a circular room, right at the opposite side of Chaldea. The Rayshift room.

Your lip curled at all the places you could be sent to, all the different eras. Who said work couldn’t be fun?

The anticipation of your first Rayshift disappeared however, as you saw the schedule they had assigned you.

Servant Classes, Optimising Your Servant, Giving Orders, Mana Circuit Theory, Mana Circuit Training… what was this? A school? You stared incredulously at the slip of paper. They were actually, honestly, going to sit all the Masters down and have lessons?

You flipped over to the day after. Nothing. The next day, still nothing about Rayshifting. You flipped through the entire week schedule until you finally saw it. Sunday morning, there was only one thing listed, Rayshift.

You let out a breath. Good, that was good. You weren’t sure you could go through another type of education system with all their tests and exams. Doing all of that at the Clock Tower once was bad enough.

A wave of sleepiness overcame you, and you noticed that sometime during your talks with Mephistopheles your Mana circuits had settled themselves. You rubbed your eyes as you felt the fatigue crawl into your mind. Time for bed, you decided.

Heading to your suitcase, you flipped it open and grabbed your Pyjamas. You stared at the suitcase for a second before deciding that no, unpacking can wait. Then turned for the bathroom door. It slid open but just before you stepped in, you realised that Mephistopheles had been awfully quiet for the past few minutes.

Swivelling your head around, you eyed him suspiciously. He had placed himself on the floor next to your bed, stretching himself out as he read one of your Manga books. Seeing as he looked thoroughly engrossed in the world of Black Butler you decided to not comment about him going through your things. You had a feeling he’d mock you for it anyways.

Walking further in, you placed your PJs on the sink before starting to change. Uniform trousers gone, comfy trousers on, stuffy gold top off, and just as you reached your PJ top-

“Oya Master!”

You shrieked as Mephistopheles’ head popped through the door behind you. He didn’t even bother to get the door to open, just phased through.

“Do you have the next volume?”

Thank everything you were still wearing a vest, it was the only thing that held back your initial reaction of shouting at him to get out. 

“Y-yeah.” You choked out. Still caught between the urge to shout and the need to just answer his questions so he would just leave. Well, at least his eyes hadn’t moved from yours. “It’s in the same bag you found the first one.”

“Oh!” His face lit up with excitement as he phased back out.

You couldn’t help but stare at the door, you hoped this wouldn’t become a regular thing. Then again, did demons understand boundaries? Oh man you’re gonna have to have this talk with Mephistopheles aren’t you.

With a look of tired resignation, you finished changing and headed back out.

Mephistopheles had moved to sit on the foot of your bed, leaning against the wall, book almost pressed up against his face.

Throwing your uniform onto a chair, you stepped in front of him, hands on hips. He didn’t look up.

“Hey, Mephisto.”

No response.

“Mephistopheles.”

A page turn. Still nothing.

Having enough of being ignored, you reached over and pulled at one of his curls. “Ow! Ow, ow, Masteer!”

Moment of childishness aside, you let go of his hair and ignored the pout he sent your way. “Don’t ignore me.” He sent you an innocent look but you knew better, plus it really wasn’t as effective with horns and a tail. “You shouldn’t enter the bathroom while someone’s inside, it ain’t polite okay?”

Mephistopheles smiled at you. “I know~" He sang.

You squinted at him and, yes, he was being serious. You tugged his hair again, ignoring his “ow’s” and whines, which you were quite sure he was playing up. Was this the best way to resolve the situation? No, but it felt good.

Finally letting him go, you walked further up the bed, and got under the covers. Reaching a hand out, you set an alarm for 7am before burrowing deeper into your bed.

“Shall I turn the lights off, Master?” Mephistopheles deep voice travelled from the foot of your bed.

You thought about it. You could sleep with the light on, after having to share with some younger siblings for a while, most of which were scared of the dark, you learnt how to. Plus if Mephistopheles wanted to keep reading…

“Turn it off when you finish reading.”

You felt him move around a bit. “Okay, Master.”

Then blissful sleep overtook you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love Mephistos dislike for any and all rules, lets hope you don't summon anymore chaotic-aligned servants... who knows...
> 
> Fun Fact: In F/GO Wiki it says that a Masters Command seal mark represents the type of magic they use


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drags myself from the writing pit* I-im back, i swear, here *throws Mephisto at you*
> 
> Unbeta'd

Something was jabbing into your back. You let out a groan and wiggled further into your bed, trying to distnace yourself from whatever it was. A rustling was heard from behind and then a weight settled next to you. "Master, Master!" A voice whispered.

"What?" You replied, voice still hoarse from sleep.

Slowly, you peeked open your eyes. There was some light in the room from the morning sun, giving off a nice, peaceful glow. It was the perfect environment to sleep in longer, in fact you could feel your eyes starting to droop again.

A weight landed solidly on top of you, pushing you onto your back. Ah, right, Mephistopheles was still there wasn't he. Opening your eyes again, you were met with the purples and blues of Mephistopheles's eyes. His face was incredibly close, and you automatically tried to push back further into the mattress to get some distance.

Mephistopheles however had different plans, as he grabbed your face, hands either side, thumbs pushing into the corner of your mouth. "H-hwey! Wat arwe yow- sooop!" You protested as Mephistopheles began playing with your face, stretching out your mouth and then squishing it together.

Speaking of the Demon, he had settled himself quite comfortably on your stomach, even though with his incredible height he had to bend over quite a bit to reach your face. His eyes sparkled with glee at your protests.

Finally, you managed to work your hands out from under the covers, grabbing his hands you stopped his movements. Or tried to at least.

“Ach- seriouswee- Mehfisto come ooon-”

His smile grew into a grin and you noted that his teeth were quite sharp. Mephistopheles leaned back, subsequently drawing you up as he did so. Sighing, he uncrossed his legs choosing to straddle you instead.

“Master’s been sleeping for so long! This Servant got worried that Master may have never awoken again!”

You sighed, at least he stopped pulling at your face. “Mephisto.”

“So worried this Demon was!”

“Mephisto.”

“This humble Demon Servant, who is as loyal as loyalty can get-”

You snorted at that.

“-had noticed that the incessant alarm had not woken you, and so took it upon himself to do it!”

You stared at him incredulously as he finally finished his monologue, and then your brain caught up with his words. “Oh my god I slept through the alarm.”

Mephistopheles nodded cheerfully in response. He quickly floated off the bed as you flung the covers off, laughing as you tripped on the tangled sheets before grabbing your uniform and running into the bathroom.

“Shit, shit, shit.” You quickly stripped out of your pyjamas and put on the gold uniform, brushing your teeth and fixing your hair in record time.

Rushing out of the bathroom you spared an amused glance at the upside-down floating Mephistopheles, before heading to your desk.

You worked quickly, looking at the map of Chaldea and figuring out where your first class would be. Okay, not that far, you could make.

“Alright, alright, alright.” You rushed to the door but looked back right before leaving. “Hey Mephisto,” The floating Servant perked up at your attention. “Don’t, uh, do anything.”

“Anything?” His eyes bored into you.

Okay, maybe that was taking it a bit too far. You knew you couldn’t give Mephistopheles free reign, call it instinct but you figured it wouldn’t end well for the whole of Chaldea. Likewise though, you doubt Mephistopheles would actually listen to what you say.

Maybe there’s a compromise… “Oh! How about this,” Mephistopheles floated closer, bringing his upside-down face in front of yours. “Don’t get caught.” You grinned.

Mephistopheles grinned in response. “Understood, Master.” Then he vanished from the air.

Well, that’s sorted. You spun and entered the hallway. His behaviour was completely out of your hands now. Yep, nothing could come back to you. It’s not like an entire room of Staff members and the Director of Chaldea know you summoned a Chaotic Demon. Haha.

You really hoped this wouldn’t come back to bite you.

* * *

 

“Miss Airnsong,” The Professor looked you over with a distasteful expression, “So wonderful of you to join us.”

You felt embarrassment creep over you as a few snickers erupted from around the room. “Sorry Professor, I got lost.” Like hell you were telling an entire room full of Masters’ you overslept.

“I did not ask for your excuse, hurry up and take a seat before you derail my lecture any further.”  
 Not making eye contact with anyone, you quickly shuffled up the stairs, to a free spot on the edge of the stands.

“Now, as I was saying…”

Almost immediately you began to zone out. Gods introductory classes were the worst, they only ever succeeded in wasting everyone’s time with repeating information already known.

Leaning back, you let out a silent breath and allowed yourself to relax. Okay, so your entrance wasn’t the worst first impression ever, at least you were properly dressed.

As the Professor droned on about the different classes, you let your eyes drift over to the Masters’ sitting around you. They looked roughly around your age, barring the startlingly young-looking boy with still chubby cheeks practically vibrating with enthusiasm on the front row. You all came from prestigious Mage families, and were all carefully recruited from the Mage’s Association, and yet as you noted the surrounding Masters’ expressions, it looked as if some of the glamour of joining Chaldea had already worn off.

You raised an invisible eyebrow at a particularly stressed out looking boy sitting in one of the stands below you, arms crossed and staring pensively at nothing in particular, then shifted your eyes to one of the girls who’s smile was so bright it looked as if someone had just told her she’d get her inheritance early.

Ah, a lovely thought. A large amount of money being gifted to you for doing nothing, you sighed dreamily.

“-and if any of what I had just spoken about is new to you, please raise your hand.” The Professor glared. “So I may remove you from Chaldea right now.”

The whole room froze for a second, and you could feel the shock as an almost physically force against you. This was news to everyone, there had been no mention of the possibility of getting kicked out or sent home. Your eyebrows creased in worry.

An outraged voice shouted in response. “On what grounds Professor Laurellet?!” You inwardly cheered the brunette.

Professor Laurellet sneered at him. “Incompetence, Mr. Linnane. You are all about to be drafted as Chaldea Magi working to preserve the reign of Human Order above all else.” Slowly, the Professor made his way around his desk. “These next few days before your first Rayshift are going to be filled with tests in order to smoothen out your ranks.” He stopped, eyes regarding us with a clinical detachment behind his glasses. “And weed out the weak among you.”

“What a boring person, Master.” You flinched as Mephistopheles deep voice sounded right next to your ear. Looking to the side, you were only greeted with the face of another Master sending you a sympathetic look. You were glad she thought your reaction was from the Professors statement.

“Wrong side, Master.” You suppressed your flinch this time as Mephistopheles teasing voice sounded from the other side, where the stairs were.

You quickly gave the room a once-over but no, no one was even glancing a look in your direction. Either Mephistopheles guarded his presence extremely well… or maybe Chaldea didn’t actually have a way to track Servants?

A thought for another time, you figured, as the Professor continued. “In fact, why don’t I begin the process right now? If you can’t answer the question correctly, then consider yourself dismissed.”

“W-what about the Servant we just summoned?” It was the bubbly girl you spotted earlier, only this time her face had dropped in concern at the Professors statement.

“Miss Thorne, you can’t possibly be naïve enough to believe Chaldea would hand Servants to newly recruited Mages without having a way to break the link between Masters’ and Servants.”

The silence that settled over the room was near-deadly. Break the link between a Master and their Servant? To just cut if off? You felt both a mix of fear and confusion. You’ve never heard of anything like that happening before, then again, you’ve never heard of a machine that summoned Servants from a sparkly rock.

If it was Chaldea, such an invention could be possible…

You felt the weight of a hand rest on your shoulder and tilted your head towards Mephistopheles. “Shall I get rid of him Master?” Your eyes went wide at the killer intent Mephistopheles leaked.

You swallowed, then with as much authority you could muster, whispered. “No.”

Nails dug into your shoulder for a second before they disappeared. Mephistopheles had left.

Releasing a shaky breath, you turned back around, only to find yourself being stared down by the young teen you had spotted trembling with enthusiasm earlier.

He sent you a disapproving frown.

You raised both your eyebrows at his adorable display, and as if he could read your mind, he frowned harder before turning back around to face Professor Laurellet.

“Now, to make sure everyone is at least somewhat competent in their new role, I shall call upon each of you with a basic question. I don’t think I need to remind you what will happen if you answer incorrectly.”

Oh how wonderful, you either answered correctly or leave Chaldea with your family name stained for all eternity. And you thought you left all this cut-throat business back in the Clock Tower.

“Miss Stepanowski, how many classes of Servants are there?”

“E-eight, Sir!”

“Mr Herthordshire, name all the Classes.”

“Saber, Archer, Lancer, Berserker… Rider, Caster and Assassin.”

“…and?”

“Ruler?” He answered in an unsure voice.

“Yes. Lovely to see you have basic memory functions.” Professor Laurellet sighed. “Mr Linnane, which Class is considered the strongest?”

“Berserker.” A few whispers broke out at that, it seemed that getting a Berserker was the current hot pick among the Masters.

“Miss Airnsong,” you straightened yourself as all eyes turned to you. “which Class is considered the weakest?”

Well in terms of pure strength. “Caster.”

One of the boys in front of you turned to whisper to his friend. “I feel sorry for anyone who gets stuck with a Caster.” They both snickered.

You glared at the back of their heads. What dumbasses, you glanced at the Professor and saw his attention was currently on grilling one of the students on the other side of the room. Leaning forward, you spoke softly between them. “You shouldn’t underestimate Casters.”

They both jumped and turned toward you. The red head sitting in the chair in front snorted. “Really? You think a Caster could take out a Berserker in a fight?” His friend smothered a laugh.

“Yeah.” You sounded so sure of yourself that it caught the two off-guard. “Casters are built for the long game, it may be a slow process but they are capable of beating Berserkers, as long as they don’t get caught in a head-on fight.”

The red heads face scrunched up in disbelief. “Wait, are you saying you’d purposely be a coward if it meant you’d win?”

You frowned. “It’s not being a coward-”

“It really is.”

“It’s called strategy-”

The other Mage cut you off, his voice filled with condescension. “You won’t last long with that kind of _strategy._ Then again, you can’t expect much from an _Airnsong.”_ The two snickered to each other once more before dismissing you and turning back to the front.

Your hands gripped your pants under the desk as your jaw clenched. Honestly, you had already heard this type of talk everywhere back at the Clock Tower. Cruel whispers and taunts about you and your family as you passed the hall, sometimes it wasn’t just from the students either.

All because the Airnsong family children were adopted.

Forcing yourself to lean back, you took slow breaths and ignored the angry prickling at the corner of your eyes. Forget them, forget anyone who dared to look down on your family, especially your parents, you’d show them all.

Show them that blood didn’t make a Mage.

“Alright, you all have shown the minimum level of competency, congratulations.” Professor Laurellet drawled. “That’s our session done for the day. Make your way to your next lecture, and try not to get lost.”

You sighed at the jab. Wonderful, you were already getting heat from a Professor and you hadn’t even been at Chaldea for a day. You really hoped this wasn’t a preview of how the rest of your time here would go.

Talking broke out as Professor Laurellet turned to leave the room, with a few Mages already standing up to make their way to the next designated lecture room.

Then, as if time decided to slow, Professor Laurellet stumbled over something, then tripped and fell forward, arms awkwardly flailing to catch himself as he landed on the ground.

Everyone held their breath, no one wanted to draw attention to themselves as Professor Laurellet stiffly picked himself up.

You forcefully pinched your lips together, but you couldn’t stop it. You giggled.

The Professors head slowly turned to you. Oh dear, if you hadn’t singled yourself out before, you definitely had now.

…

Well, at least you left the room with a smile on your face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #IWillDefendCastersTilIDie
> 
> also i like to think that the 8 classes that were listed are the ones known to the general Mage population, with Ruler being the rarest/hardly seen class. Just seemed weird for everyone to already know about Avengers - and lets not even get into Alter Egos, Foreigners and Moon Cancer.

**Author's Note:**

> Haha, first Summon is Mephistopheles! He is going to be a handful, I actually have such a soft spot for this guy, first servant I ever got to a lvl 5 bond with.
> 
> Fun Fact: My first Gold servant was the Berserker Hercules, and it's so hilarious to think of some newbie Master summoning this power monster XD


End file.
